


Living Will

by blackeyedgurl



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Goodbyes, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 18:19:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2742356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackeyedgurl/pseuds/blackeyedgurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of drabbles, some short, some longer.</p><p>Oliver has to leave Starling City, and there are five people he needs to say goodbye to. He's making arrangements to keep his city and his family safe in his absence. </p><p>Spoilers up through 3x08 and leading into 3x09.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Laurel

**Author's Note:**

> These were trapped in my brain and I had to let them out. I hope you enjoy them.
> 
> Readers are always welcome to add any of my fics to their rec lists! I'm on tumblr as ladybast reach out and make a new friend!

He walked to the end of the hall as he had done dozens of times before. _This could be the last time._ He shook the thought from his head.

His knuckles rapped lightly on door 305. He heard her move to the door, saw the darkness behind the peep hole. The rub of a chain. The click of the deadbolt. It was ironic, so much security on a front door that was rarely the point of entry to break into her home.

"I wasn't expecting you." She said with a slight smile. "Come in."

"I only need a minute and you can get on with your evening." He stood in the entry way as she closed the door, hands thrust deep in his pockets, the only place he could keep them, hidden, he couldn't have them betray his countenance.

"What's up Ollie?" She asked moving towards the living room.

"I'm leaving Starling City." She stopped dead. "I have to go deal with something, someone, out of country."

"When are you coming back?"

He scuffed his foot against the floor boards, she was the first on a short list, there were key people who had to know, but this was something he didn't want to do at all. _If only I were a ghost._

"I don't know. That's why I'm here." He clenched his hands in the safety of the pockets. "You can't tell your father that the Arrow is gone. I've made arrangements, but you have to make sure he doesn't try to meet with him while I'm gone." 

"I don't understand, the city will be fine for a few days, we survived for years without the constant lingering presence of a hooded man."

"It may not be just a few days. I can't tell you more than this, but if you need something call Diggle or Felicity, they know what to do."

"What is this Ollie?"

"This is goodbye Laurel. I'm sorry, but I have to do this, not for the city, but for the people I care about."

"But you are coming back, I mean, you have to, you know that."

"I can't make you any promises." He turned to leave, but she grabbed his hand, and pulled him into a hug.

"You are coming back, and I'll do what I can while you're gone." She squeezed him quickly and released him. "Now go, the sooner you leave the sooner you'll come back."


	2. Roy

He could hear Roy yelling at the football game on the TV from the far side of the door. _He's just a kid, you can't do this._ Oliver steeled his resolve before pushing the doorbell. _He's stronger than you think._

"I already paid the damn rent, and if you think I'm going to pay you more to live in this shit hole, you have another thing coming asshole!" He heard Roy yelling while approaching the door. He stepped back and peered through the glass so he would see it wasn't his landlord.

"Oliver, man, what's up?" Roy asked opening the door, beer in hand. "How do you know where I live?"

"I know where everyone lives, you know this."

"Yeah, come in. Is something up? I haven't even drank half this beer, so I'm good, won't be drunk avenging, or would it be justicing? Is justicing even a word?"

"There's no emergency, I just need to talk to you about something important."

"You want a beer?"

"Actually, I'd love one."

"Go grab a seat, I've got the Seahawks game on. Wilson is ON tonight man, so good."

Oliver shrugged off his jacket and took a seat on the shabby couch. He felt a tug of guilt, there wasn't exactly a Team Arrow payroll department, this kid would never get out of a place like this with his night job.

"Here," Roy said as he handed over the beer and turned the TV to mute. "Not that I don't want to watch football with my personal Yoda, but we're not exactly beer and a game buds, not that we couldn't be, but I have this feeling you didn't stop by to hang out."

"I didn't." He took a long pull on the beer. _This was going to be harder than he thought._ The cold effervescence flowed into him. "Damn that's good, I can't remember the last time I had a beer."

He sat back on the cushions. "You've come a long way Roy."

"Yeah man, it's crazy." Roy answered with a shake of his head.

"I've been summoned to Nanda Parbat by the League of Assassins. I need to leave in a day or so."

"Whoa, I don't have a passport, so I mean, I can try to get one, but shit, I've never even been on a plane."

"I have to go alone. They've made that very clear."

"Oh, it's cool, we can handle things around here for a few days. It's quiet since the boomerang guy got locked up."

"Roy, you've become Arsenal. But I need you to be even more while I'm gone."

"Yeah no problem. I can patrol at night, keep an eye on things." Roy responded with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I don't know when or even if I will come back. I need you to be more than my Arsenal, I need you to be my Bow, my Arrows, I need you to protect this city. I need you to take the reins."

Roy put his hands out and shook his head, "I'm not the Arrow."

"I'm not asking you to be, I'm asking you to be yourself, but to become a leader. You can do this. I know what you are capable of. You can do this."

"I'm not ready for this. I mean, I still have some anger control issues, and I don't know if I can do this alone."

Oliver locked eyes with Roy, he had to let him know he was serious. "You have control over your emotions, I've seen it. And you won't be alone, you'll have Diggle and Felicity. If something really bad happens, you call Barry. If the shit completely hits the fan, you quit. You shut down the Foundry, you grab Thea and Felicity and you get out of this city. You walk away. Do you understand me?"

"But you'd never walk away, I can't do that, you know that."

"I need you to promise me, if I don't return, if the League comes here, that you will get them out of this city, you will hide them, and you will never return here." He fished a key out of his pocket and handed it to Roy. "Felicity and Diggle have the other two keys. I have a safety deposit box at Starling National. In it are new identities for you, Thea, Felicity, John, Lyla, Sara, and even Laurel and her father. There's enough money to get you all out of here and back on your feet as well as the address of a safe house I've set up for you. You will need all three keys to open the box. Digg and Felicity will take care of destroying the evidence in the Foundry."

Roy's mouth hung open, Oliver wasn't fucking around. "I'll do it, I promise."

"If the Foundry is compromised Felicity and Diggle know about the contingency location."

"What if something happens, and we can't get all three keys?" Roy's brain was having trouble processing all of the information, Oliver knew he should have talked to him about all of this sooner.

"You work that out with each other. This is your team now, the details are your responsibility."

"You're coming back."

"I can't promise that."

"You always come back."

"One day I won't, and there is no one I trust to do this more than you."

"This is bullshit, you know that right?"

Oliver finished his beer. "No bullshit Roy, I'm trusting you with my city and my family. Take care of them." He stood, putting his jacket back on, and headed for the door.

Roy followed behind him.

"One more thing Roy," He turned to the younger version of himself, a better version in so many ways. "You can never tell Thea about me, or about you. She has to be shielded from all of this. It's safer for her."

"I know."

Oliver put his hand out between them, and Roy took it but pulled him into a hug. "Thank You Oliver."

"You're Welcome?" Oliver asked, pulling away.

"Thank you for believing in me, no one really ever has. I won't let you down."

Oliver dipped his head, and closed his eyes, _maybe if I wouldn't have come back here, this would all be different._ "Good bye Roy." He said without looking back.


	3. Thea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to say good bye (lie) to the only family he has left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am crazy humbled that so many of you have read this! As always, your feedback is much appreciated!
> 
> Note: _Italics_ are generally thoughts in Oliver's head, if a word or two lands in between some quotes, then it's emphasis.

The space inside Verdant wouldn't be occupied by patrons for hours, but Oliver knew that Thea would be there attending to the daily minutia of running the club. When he walked in, she was behind the bar, toweling off glasses, inspecting each one for cracks or chips before placing them in their home behind the bar.

“You know, when I ran this place, I never washed the glasses.” He said as he approached.

“Well, you were probably lucky enough to have staff that did their jobs.” She said turning to set another glass down. “I, on the other hand, am not so lucky, thus, glorified dishwasher.” She waved her hands in front of her like a magician and bowed.

Oliver sat down at the bar. It was easier to tell people good bye when you didn't have to lie about it. 

“What can I get you? It's on the house.” She asked flinging her towel over her shoulder.

“Nothing. Can't a guy just stop by to say hi to his little sister?” He offered her a sincere smile.

“You never just want to talk Ollie.” She said wryly as she lifted another rack of glasses to the counter. _When did she get that strong?_

He grabbed a towel and picked up a glass to dry. “I've been thinking about taking a trip.”

“The last time you tried to go on vacation you disappeared for 5 years. Unless you are like, literally driving to Central City for the weekend, I'm going to advise against it.” A wide smirk spread across her face.

“You think you're funny, but you're not, you know that right? I'm the funny one.”

“If that's the case, then it's clear the Queen kids are never going to land a sitcom.” She laughed.

“No, seriously, since Tommy and mom died, and since I single handedly lost our family business I've been thinking about getting out of here for a while. Go clear my head, come up with a plan.”

She scoffed at him, “You? Making a plan?”

“Hey, I built this place! Without me what would you be doing?”

“Going to college like a normal 19 year old.” She deadpanned with more than a little sarcasm.

“Yeah, I wasn't so good at that, so I can't really vouch for the experience.” He said with a little laugh.

“So where are you going to go? Are you going to go _find_ yourself? You're a little young for a midlife crisis and a little too old for a quarterlife crisis, but I think a trip is definitely preferable to a sportscar, all things considered.”

“I was thinking about Tibet.” He knew the lie would be easier to sell if it was only a twist of the truth. Nanda Parbat was technically in Tibet. Felicity constantly harangued him over his long list of ridiculous lies when he would bring her a project back when all of this started. _You're a terrible liar, don't try to over sell it._

She burst out laughing, grabbing the edge of the bar to stay upright. “You're kidding me right?”

“No, I've read that it's a good place to go to figure things out, I can climb a mountain,” _probably the truth,_ “spend some time with Buddhists, as you so eloquently put it, _find_ myself.”

“I believe that coming from you less than I did when Sara fed me that line when she quit.”

He had never stopped to think what Sara told Thea when she quit. Sara wasn't the kind of person to leave Thea in a bind. She'd disappear from her family, but not from responsibility. 

Oliver just stared blankly at her. 

“You can just tell me the truth, I know you're probably going to Greece or Ibiza or someplace else where you and Sara can meet up and spend your days boning and your nights spending what remains of your trust fund on partying.”

_She doesn't know Sara is dead._ He felt his jaw go slack, and couldn't help but stare at her, he hoped that this look of guilt sold as “caught lying about trip,” and not something worse.

“How about this? You go get Sara from where ever she is, bring her back here, and the two of you can enjoy adventures in bar tending!” She joked, “Sooo much vodka, all the rums! The excitement never ends!” She picked up two bottles and made them dance across the bar.

“Yeah, you got me.” He shook his head at her. “We're meeting up in Tokyo, gonna hit up Japan's night life.”

“You've always been a shitty liar.” She squinted and motioned with two fingers at her eyes and then to him, “I see right through you Oliver Queen, you can't get anything past me!”

He couldn't help but laugh. 

“So when are you coming back?”

“Honestly? I don't know.”

“Wait.” Her hands shot to her hips in defiance. “You come all the way to Corto to beg me to come home, and now you are just fucking leaving?”

“Thea...” He started.

“No. You don't get to do this to me.” She was shaking her head, he had seen that head shake too many times.

“I just, need to get away for a little while.”

“So you can leave, but I can't?” 

“I was worried about you, I didn't know if you were okay.”

“Well isn't that great?” She was not pleased with him, “I _never_ know if you're okay and you're 5 feet away from me. I am _always_ worried about you, but I don't get a say in where you are or what you do.”

“Speedy...” He plead with her. 

“Don't play that card Oliver, that is _not_ fair.” She said through gritted teeth. 

“I know, I just, I need to do this.” 

She crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes. He hated doing this. He hated fighting with her. _She's right, I should have left her there._

He got up and hoisted himself over the bar. He wrapped his arms around her, even as she tried to escape. 

“God I'm going to miss you.” He mumbled into her hair, kissing the top of head. 

“It's not like you aren't coming back,” She said, trying to pull away, “But if you don't plan on coming back, could you sign this place over to me?” She joked. _Done_ He let her go, but held her at arms length. 

“I'm sorry, I've got to get going.” He looked her dead in the eye, “Thea, I love you.” 

“I love you too, now get out of my bar. I've got work to do.” 

He pulled her in for one last, brief hug. He inhaled the scent of her hair, and memorized what her small frame felt like in his arms. _People die on vacation all the time. She'll be none the wiser._

He let her go and made his way to the stock room. Diggle was downstairs, and he only had a few hours left. 

“Hey Ollie?” Thea yelled to him, “Tell Sara I say hi!” 

_Will do._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know that I'm going to get this done before the mid-season finale tomorrow night. Even if I don't, I PROMISE there will be Diggle and Felicity chapters.


End file.
